Home > New Dads > Eating crap? Hop on the slow cooker train – easy meals that go for miles

Eating crap? Hop on the slow cooker train – easy meals that go for miles

13 November 2016

As a new parent, grabbing the nearest (remotely-edible) thing to shove in your mouth and stop the hangry attacks is probably the extent of your food planning.

Juggling your time between work, wifey and baby makes for less gym time and more last minute runs to Hungry Jacks. It’s a slippery slide into dad-bod territory that can be hard to reverse.

Now that you’re responsible for a whole other person, it’s time to get organised and take charge in the kitchen. And we’ve got just the tool to help you do it – the slow cooker. With minimal effort, the slow-cooker will have you be serving gourmet meals to rounds of applause all week. It’s a new dad’s best mate.

You simply chuck a bunch of stuff in it (meat, veggies, spices if you’re feeling fancy) and forget about it. Come back 8 or so hours later (aka, the length of a typical work-day) and voila, dinner is served!

The best part is the leftovers. One batch usually covers my partner and I for at least 3 meals, or me for a week’s worth of lunches.

However, if like me you get bored eating the same thing every day, you might want to take the weekend warrior approach. I smash out a few combos on the weekends and freeze for the week ahead. I also chop a bunch of veggies and store them in containers so that I can chuck a few batches on in the mornings before I go to work.

Before you know you will have a freezer worth of food to choose from, that just needs to be occasionally topped up.

1. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Coat the lamb shanks lightly in the flour and shake off the excess.

2. Place a large, heavy-based frying pan onto the stovetop and preheat for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat, add the oil and heat for a further minute.

3. Add the lamb shanks and brown until golden all over. Remove from the pan and set aside while you prepare the vegetables.

4. Lower the heat to medium. Add the remaining oil and the carrot, onion and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the tomato paste, stock, thyme, bay leaves and leftover flour.

6. Arrange the lamb shanks so they are completely submerged in the sauce. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-7 hours (the meat should fall off the bone). Remove the bay leaves and thyme stem.
7. Serve with mashed potatoes, a side of greens, and enjoy.